So Howden, how did your round WBPPs turn out? Did they widen out and turn into the squash of your dreams? Got pics?

Sorry I somehow missed this until now! How did they turn out? It's possible you got seed to the original mix, which had long fat butternut shaped fruit as well as round and oblong. Originally when I started selecting for "round" I aimed for the oblong, which is something like a tall pie pumpkin in shape.

Here's a picture of the fat butternut shape:

Here's the oblong:

I had a near crop failure of these in 2009 and a total crop failure (along with all other squash) in 2010. So in 2011 I really need to renew this seed stock. Hopefully some who have received this seed will also work at continued selection.

George
Tahlequah, OK

Those squash are so lovely George! What a shame about the crop failure. A member to whom you sent seeds for the 2010 growing season has graciously offered to send me 3 seeds she has left for me to try in 2011. I'm hoping we have enough season here for them to mature a few fruits. When you're hand-pollinating these guys, do you usually "self" or "sib"? Does it matter? Depends? Thanks!

With the round strain I have mainly selfed. Every time I think I've got it to 100% production of the two acceptable forms of fruit, someone to whom I sent seed tells me that they got a long version out of it! Sneaky plants don't do that for me!

Warsaw is a c. moschata and loves heat. So if you have cool nights or a short season you might consider some structure or planting scheme which boosts your heat units a bit.

Also, if anyone does not, but would like to have a basic guide on hand pollination; I have one which I can e-mail.

George

Thank you George. I don't know which form you sent to the person who's sharing seeds with me, but I'll plan to self if I'm lucky enough to get plants going.

A short growing season with cool nights is the norm here. Black plastic and Culligan water bottles make a big difference. I'm always on the look-out for new (cheap) ways to keep things warmer longer. Floating row covers might show up next year, though the wind might have other ideas.

Your hand-pollination thread here is a great resource. The only thing I've changed is a switch to using clothes pins in the evening. This was after snapping off about the third Boston Marrow ovary this summer while fumbling to get the tape off in the morning. That was the only variety it happened with, but I was pretty disgusted with myself. Even more so now, since Boston Marrow turned out to be my favorite 2010 variety so far. I'm always looking to improve what I'm doing, so I'd love to have a copy of your guide. Thank you!

George,

Why did you select for the squat round form? If the tall form is like Butternut wouldn't it have a solid "neck" and smaller seed chamber than the squat form?

Mrs. B, just watch those clothes pins to be sure they truly do keep pollinators out. I tape across the tips of the petals and often just rip the tips off, with the tape, rather than trying to unstick the tape.

Spiced ham, I simply chose the round form for aesthetic reasons. Glenn Drowns once worked on selecting for the butternut shape. But I believe his work was lost due to robbery.

George

Mrs.B....like you when I first saw George's "round" WBPP, they really grabbed my eye.....love the shapes and George says the taste is as good.....he sent some seeds but I think they are for the more butternut looking WBPP...sorry for me, like George last year was bad due to the cold wet spring well into early summer and a lot of what I planted did not do well but then some types grew like crazy...at some point I would like to get some of the WBPP "round" and try again.....

I'm hoping to renew my seed, of both strains, this coming summer. It will be a challenge as I work 5 AM to 1:30 PM, five days a week. Hand pollinations should be done after day break and, here, probably before 10 AM.

George

That creates a problem....you have to hope the blooms come on the two days you are home....or I guess you have to tape the bloom shut the evening before, then wait until you get home and open them up to try and polinate them the next day.....I hope you can do it George, I would hate for you to loose that round form of the WBPP....

I certainly wish you the best of luck with renewing your seed stock. If I receive seeds from my enabler friend, I'll put them on my priority list. 'Will be interesting to see what shape they produce.

Regarding hand-pollinating, taping just the tips seems like it would solve my clumsiness problem. It would also solve the problem I run into with smaller varieties where the weight of the clothes pin tips the male blossoms over, making them hard to find come morning.

The clothes pins sure are quick to put on and get off ...

I've been using ones like these:

Rather than ones like this:

I'm hoping they excluded pollinators. What's your experience been?

I haven't used clothes pins, or if I did, it was back in 1984, when I first tried to hand pollinate. I know I tried tying them shut, with string, and that didn't keep out pollinators. Tape has been most effective for me.

George

The seeds I got were from 2008. They say, "May be Warsaw Round selection".

I'm not sure if the one pumpkin I have is Warsaw or Old Timey Cornfield (or something else!). I had a thief in my pumpkin patch last year, and when I discovered that my most beautiful pumpkins had been stolen I just grabbed them up without much care. I wonder if there's a way to identify it just by a picture?

These are of the same pumpkin, just turned around. [This year I will carve the name on each pumpkin to destroy it's aesthetic value!]

Those both fit the profile for Warsaw Round. They also fit for the regular Warsaw Buff Pie Pumpkin. So, if you had long butternut shaped fruit, which were stolen, then they are from WBPP. But if the others were like these, and you had no long butternut shapes, that's Warsaw Round.

George

Milehighgirl.......is this a WBPP that was hand pollinated or might it be open pollinated with Old Timey Cornfield....or something else.....I like the looks, how's the taste or maybe you have not tried it yet...had some of George's seeds but were not the "round" like yours....would like to get a few seeds of the Warsaw Round....

groall,

Unfortunately I was unsuccessful at hand-pollinating last year. I realize now that I will have to make two trips a day to my garden, which is not where I live. I pollinated in the evening, but obviously I will have to close the blooms in the evening and then go back in the morning and pollinate. Quite a hassle! What time of day is best for squash?

You are welcome to the seeds when I open it. There will be no guarantees of course. Send me a PM.

Milehigh,

Did you have any other c. moschatas nearby? Anything like butternut? If there wasn't another c. moschata nearby you may well have pure seed.

Remember, anyone who would like an illustrated guide on hand pollination of squash can send me an e-mail and I can e-mail it to them.

George

George,

Yes, I also grew Cheese and Pennsylvania Dutch Crookneck, although there was Old Timey Cornfield, Sibley, Marina di Chiogga, and Long Pie between them. I will definitely grow the seeds out to see what I get, and I'll share also as long as it is understood that they may be crossed.

Milehighgirl,

I once did that experiment and got a calaedoscope of resultant crosses. Yet, you can know that they will all be good eating.

I just found a bag of 2008 Warsaw Round seed, in my dresser drawer. They were grown in isolation, with only a slight chance of a cross with the regular Warsaw Buff Pie Pumpkin (which was planted much later). Anyone here, who would like a sample to grow can contact me on my member page and exchange contact info. I'll ask $3 to cover my expenses. I'd like to give preference to those who would hand pollinate or grow in isolation. But, that's really up to the one who requests the seed.

I hope to grow both these strains, this year. As mentioned above, the challenge will be finding the time for the hand pollinations. But I'm going to work on it.

George

This seems like an interesting variety. Do these have advantages over Waltham Butternut (taste, productivity, storage, etc.)? If so, I would love to try some of the strain that produces the fat butternut shape.

Phillip, I answered your e-mail over a week ago. Did you receive it?

Hey everyone. Boy did I drop the ball! Started a thread and never came back to check on it! The fruit I mentioned at the beginning never did fill out. There were MANY shapes. Cylinder, bell, squat, and even heart shaped with a somewhat pointed blossom end. They were delicious. And some kept for almost 14 months! I ended up with 21 fruit from one vine, most of which were in the 4 - 6 lb range. I have kept the seeds safe from the original packet and will try to grow them again this year. Perhaps I ended up with a mixed lineage seed last time. We shall see. Thanks for all the replies!

I planted seeds a few years ago and I noticed that some of the plants had variegated leaves and others not. The non-variegated leafed vines made round WBPP. (These were from seeds of fruit pictured above from 2011 crop.) Anyone else have this correlation?

Edit: Found the photos for WBPP:

This post was edited by milehighgirl on Fri, May 2, 14 at 15:32